Bound By Pain
by MsVerdandi
Summary: Post-ACC Sephiroth returns to the planet for a chance at Redemption and ponders over everything that has happened, but a certain someone is watching him. What happens when this certain person confronts the One Winged Angel? OLD FANFIC


**DISCLAIMER**: I DO **NOT** OWN _FINAL_ _FANTASY_ _VII_ OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!!!

**AUTHOR****NOTES**: I wrote this one night cuz I just had this really cool idea about what would happen between Sephiroth and another certain character if and when Sephy came back for a second chance! Hope you guys like and I consider this fic a One-Shot. Happy Reading!!!

_**Bound By Pain**_

He stood, still, in the new flower garden that had regrown 6 months ago in the old, rundown church. His long, silvery hair swayed in the light breeze that was blowing through the place as he pondered in deep thought. He was trying to figure out why the Cetra, Aeris, had decided to send him back to earth.

_"Now that you finally know the real truth, I want you to face your sins and make a new life for yourself..."_, she had said to him, _"Find your place in the world and make amends with the people you have hurt so much. You cannot change the past, but you can change the future. Let Hope be your embrace."_

Those were the exact words she had spoken to him before he had left the Lifestream.

_Hope?,_ he thought with a sad chuckle, _I thought I lost that a __**long**__ time ago._

The former villain, for the life of him, just couldn't understand why Aeris was so willing to forgive him for taking her innocent life when they barely even knew each other to begin with. It was true that she was finally able to make him understand all the wrong he had done, but... why?

_Why is she... being so nice to me, even after the horrible death I... put her through?, _he thought, _...Why is she... doing this?_

Even if she had forgiven him, it still hurt him terribly deep inside for what he had done to her. What filled him with even more painful guilt were the atrocious things he had done to Cloud. And how the blonde would react to him when he revealed himself. The fallen angel was well aware of all the hideous sins he had committed against Cloud: Killing his mother, his neighborhood friends, destroying his entire hometown, trying to make the blonde a puppet, trying to force him to hurt his own friends, devastating his close friend Tifa and taking away their dear friend, Aeris. He knew just seeing Cloud would tear him in the heart. The ex-general also knew that the blonde's friend Tifa would not take him well either, considering what he had done to her as well. Already, by this point, he was convinced that Cloud and his friends would never forgive him.

_There's no way this will work. I don't understand why Aeris wants me to even try. But I know I'll have to do something.,_ he thought to himself again.

Even if they didn't forgive him, all he really wanted to do was just tell Cloud how much he wished he could take it all back and take all the pain away. How much he wanted to go back in time and fix everything. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was for hurting, torchering, and scarring him, for all the horrid pain and suffering he had caused him and also his friends too. The ex-villain was plagued with so much guilt it was tearing him in half!

_But... How can I possibly tell him 'I'm sorry' when I know it will never __**ever**__ be enough and never change anything I've done, nor would it bring Aeris back?, _he pondered some more, _I don't... I don't know how... to do this._

He realized, to himself, that he wouldn't even hesitate to let Cloud kill him again if that is what the blonde so wanted. This was _not_ going to be easy... _at all_. The fallen angel was so far deep in his rampant thoughts, he hadn't realized that someone had been watching him from inside the church, aware that he was back. The mysterious stranger crept towards him from behind, hardly making a sound. The feeling of being watched eventually got a hold of the ex-general and he turned around fast, only to end up staring straight down the three barrels of a familiar gun at point-blank range. The hand holding the gun was gloved in black, as was the arm itself, leading up to a red cloak with semi-long, onyx-colored hair hanging down over the collar. The former villain made no effort to look the man in the face but still managed to recognize him from 3 years ago, just his name that was still kind of blocked out. The angel bent his head down, looking past the triple-barrels, straight to the floor. The familiar man spoke, keeping his gun in place.

"Sephiroth.", he said in a very serious, deep and slightly creepy voice.

Sephiroth didn't move nor answer him, but finally remembered the mysterious man's name.

_Vincent... Vincent Valentine.,_ he realized to himself.

The ex-general also realized the man was nearly his height, only short about an inch maybe. Vincent spoke again, keeping his Cerberus in the same position.

"Why are you here?", he asked in that same tone.

This time, Sephiroth answered him.

"The Cetra, Aeris,... she sent me back."

The ex-Turk was a bit surprised by this. The other thing that was bothering him was why Sephiroth hadn't tried to fight back or even defend himself. Not to mention, the answer the fallen angel had given him was full of honest guilt, something the gunman had been acquainted with for a very long time. There was definitely something going on here.

"Does Cloud know your here?", Vincent asked.

The angel shook his head, his eyes never leaving the floor, head still tilted down.

_He's not acting like he used to at all., _thought the confused former Turk, _Was Aeris really the one who brought him back?_

Vincent paused before asking another question, "Why did she send you back?"

At this, Sephiroth picked his head up and locked his emerald-green mako eyes with Vincent's ruby-red ones, much to the gunman's sudden shock.

"She wanted me to... have a second chance.", answered the fallen angel.

The former Turk's thoughts suddenly came to an abrupt stop, hesitation immediately washing over him like someone had dropped a bucket of water on him. Cerberus flinched in his hand. It couldn't be. It just... couldn't. It wasn't Sephiroth's answer that had made Vincent lose his composure. It was the angel's face. His emerald-green eyes were full of guilt, sadness, and pain. His face itself was streaked with angst. It wasn't just Sephiroth the gunman was seeing...

_...Lu-Lucrecia..., _he thought to himself, completely surprised.

The look on the ex-general's face was the exact same expression Vincent had seen on Lucrecia's face all those years ago when he was locked inside the tank in the laboratory. The guilt, sadness, and pain of hurting someone terribly and then regretting it... something she had done to him. It had become too obvious now and it was unmistakable.

_Sephiroth really does bear a strong resemblance... to Lucrecia, _thought the gunman, _...the mother he never knew._

He almost felt as if he were pointing Cerberus at Lucrecia herself! The former villain shifted slightly. Vincent couldn't shake the sudden realization that he just couldn't shoot the fallen angel, even if the former Turk was still angry at him for all the damage he had caused. He couldn't bring himself to hate him... because then he would feel like he was betraying the woman he loved so much. He felt he owed her her own son. Vincent began to falter, letting his mind drift back through his painful memories some 30 years ago. Vincent remembered every single bit of damage Hojo, Sephiroth's father, had done to both he and Lucrecia but then, after thinking about it some more, he realized that in the very end, Sephiroth himself had also been a victim of Hojo's insane madness, having been treated like an experiment his entire life by his own father. Hojo had lied to him about everything : who his real mother was, Jenova's true origin, the experimentation on him before he was born, why he needed the Mako injections, the constant scans and tests, why he was always being monitored, etc. The insane scientist _never_ once considered Sephiroth as a son, rather, more of a specimen. That made him wonder if it was possible that the ex-General hated Hojo just as much as he did, maybe even more than him. The gunman ran an obvious thought through his head.

_It seems that we have a lot in common with each other more than I realized., _he thought to himself, finally bringing Cerberus down.

Sephiroth was completely bewildered by this. He had noticed the sudden change in expression on the gunman's face and it made him wonder if something had scared the cloaked man.

_Why is he not threatening me anymore?_, Sephiroth thought in wonder.

He was also trying to figure out what he had seen in the ex-Turk's eyes just now when his expression changed. The former villain had seen something akin to despair, like the man had been scarred with pain and hurt horribly. He seemed to have suffered through something unspeakable, but it was all the angel could see, nothing more. Vincent did not realize he had opened himself up when he lost his composure for that short time for Sephiroth to see into his eyes. He finally regained said composure and put Cerberus back into the holster strapped to his right leg.

_Sephiroth is telling the truth., _he thought, _As wierd as it sounds, he is no longer a threat to the planet or to us._

Vincent made a note that the fallen angel would have to face Cloud and the others if he really wanted this second chance. And it was going to be _very_, very hard. Sephiroth decided it was better he not ask the gunman why he had stopped threatening him, lest he provoke the man to do it again. Instead, he asked another question.

"Are you going to tell Cloud I'm here?", he asked, partially dreading the answer.

Vincent answered him.

"No. You'll have to do this yourself."

Something was still bothering the ex-villain. He shifted his boots in the flowers again.

"So, you don't mind that I'm here?"

"No, not so much."

The cloaked man began to walk away but then stopped and turned to face the fallen angel again.

"Because I know someone who wouldn't want me to hate you and hold a grudge against you."

At that, Vincent turned back around and left the church, his ruby-red eyes softening from their usual icy look. Sephiroth stared after him, pondering over what he had said.

_Was he talking about Aeris?_, he thought to himself.

Sephiroth never realized that Vincent had been talking about the woman the gunman had loved so much and the mother the fallen angel never knew... Lucrecia.

**END**

**AUTHOR****NOTES**: Well, what did you guys think? I hope you enjoyed it cuz I sure loved writing it! It almost made me cry. Poor Sephy, he feels so guilty for what he did to Cloud... Sniff... Anyway, I think I managed to keep Vincent in character... I hope. Well, toodles for now and happy fanficcing!!!


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